Tuesday, December 1, 2009 11:53
TOC turns 3 – and memories of an elite uncaring face
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On 1 December 2006, The Online Citizen went “live” online, after several months of preparation. Today, we celebrate our 3rd anniversary. We thank everyone who has helped and contributed to TOC in ways big and small. We thank especially our readers – those who support us and those who criticize us.
Thank you.
For those who may not know, TOC’s original blog can still be viewed here. And as part of this day of our 3rd anniversary, we re-publish here the very first blog entry on TOC. It is an article written by Charissa Lim and it was on the hot topic of Wee Shu Min and her elite uncaring face. What memories!
Thank you, everyone…. ;)
“Please, get out of my elite uncaring face.” -Wee Shu Min
I am sure many people recognized this quote by Miss Wee. After all, the Wee Shun Min saga has been one of the most widely debated topics in Singapore.
The whole issue started when Derek Wee published his rejected letter to the straits times on his blog. Derek wrote in response to the “Straits Times article (dated 24 Sep) on PM Lee calling the young to be committed and make a difference to Singapore.” Basically, he pointed out the uncertainties and pressures Singaporeans are facing in Singapore.
He touched upon issues on the competitiveness in our society, ageism faced by Singaporeans in their 40s, “quitters”, the call to procreate etc. He ended off by expressing his opinion that the current PAP government is on a different platform from the people because they do not understand our insecurities. His honest letter echoed what many Singaporeans have been feeling and hence many people started pouring in comments supporting his point of view.
Miss Wee Shu Min was one of the few who responded to Derek’s post in her own blog. However, her response was curt and insulting. She not only lambasted Derek’s post into pieces, she personally insulted him by calling him “wretched,” “idiot,” a “leech” among many other degrading words.
Furthermore, she labeled him as “the other class” and stated that Singapore is “a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.” She then stated how her future is not certain but “brighter than most people’s.” The worst part was she ended her diatribe with “get out of my elite uncaring face.”
Derek is an average Singaporean while Miss Wee is RJC Student, Humanities Scholar and daughter of PAP MP Mr Wee Siew Kim. People interpreted her post using this context and came to conclusion that Miss Wee was being elitist. They then started chiding her post. As a result, she closed down her blog after a few days. (Her blog link was “http://www.suchvividnothing.blogspot.com“
Caught in a wildfire
Little did she know, her post was replicated in the sammyboy forum and was spreading in cyberspace. It was scrutinized, analyzed and debated by all who came across it.
By her post, Miss Wee has broken many Singaporeans out of their “false consciousness,” thereby making them realize the great class divide inSingapore. Thus this is where the story begins. The story of how the “divide just grew larger.”
Note: Below is my analysis with regards to this saga which was posted in my blog a few weeks ago. In it, I analyzed the truth of her remarks, and how this saga intertwined with other events and our current government. Through all these, I would illustrate how the social divide in Singapore grew larger. Lastly, I reflected upon some questions we might want to ask ourselves.
Analysis
Point1: The daughter of a PAP MP
So, it is true… her father is PAP MP Wee Siew Kim (of Jalan Kayu division in Ang Mo Kio GRC). I think the only reason why this saga has taken the Singapore cyberspace by storm is because her father is a Member of Parliament. He was voted in by Singaporeans and thus suppose to serve us Singaporeans. Thus, linking Miss Wee ideas to her background would in turn lead to her family upbringing. Singaporeans naturally infer that ideas reflect her father’s teachings.
Being an PAP MP, he is expected by Singaporeans to have good ideals. Singaporeans hoped that he embodies their version of good ideals. Sadly, after this episode, many find their whiter than white impression of PAP MPs tarnished. Many fail to realise that perhaps most PAP MPs ideals are quite different from what the common men desires his leader to have.
From Miss Wee’s post, Singaporeans were offered a glimpse of the ideals of a PAP MP’s daughter. Most who read it would likely conclude that her ideals were uncompromising, uncaring and selfish. Hers was one of class divide and survival of the fittest. There was no room for discourse, discussion and airing of plights. Whether or not one tries to think otherwise, it is difficult to deny that her ideals are reflected partly in her upbringing. Although these ideals were not blatantly conveyed by a PAP MP, Miss Wee is somewhat seen to be a representative.
These were not the ideals which most Singaporeans hoped their MPs to have. In the past, many have chosen to ignore this, but the truth has surfaced again. How many people would remember and try to make this party change? How many people would choose to bury this memory?
Point 2: The elite
In Singapore, when one is a scholar, he/she is automatically labeled as elite. If one goes to top schools like RGS, RI, Chinese High, RJC, Hwa Chong JC, ACS, ACJC etc., he/she would be labeled as elite.
If one’s parents were doctors, lawyers, directors in companies etc, he/she would be labeled as elite.
If one’s family is well-to-do, he/she would be labeled as elite.
If they continue to be successful in life as a result of all these supporting factors, he/she would be labeled as elite.
These criteria are not exhaustive. However, to be labeled as true blue Singaporean elites, it is sufficient for individual posses all these criteria mentioned.
Here, “elites” is a “dirty” word. The country can be said to be build up by “elites”, but yet most Singaporeans have a distaste for “elites” and especially against those that call themselves such. Miss Wee posses the 1st four criteras; she is a RJC Humanities Scholar, she went to RGS and RJC, her father is an MP, President of Defense Business of ST Engg and her family is well-to-do. Therefore, most would label her as an “elite”. Miss Wee herself blatently declared she is “elite” anyway.
Since it is already obvious to people reading her blog that she is an “elite”, she could have made people madder by telling people that she is one. What perhaps made it worse is the context in which she used this word. She told her readers/Derek Wee to “get out of my elite uncaring face.” That final sentence summarized where she is coming from and how uncaring she is to anyone else that is not part of her class.
Normal Singaporeans who are not as “rich” and “smart” like her would thus take offence. By her background and her wanton use of the word “elite”, she effectively pit herself against the “other class”, the non-elites, the commoners. Not exactly the smartest move.
Before the newspapers revealed that she is a scholar, people already had grievances against her being elitist. Now, some are starting to question why they are funding the education of “this type” of scholars. After all, scholarships are paid by the taxpayers, who are the “other class.”
Why should the “other class” pay for such a scholar to belittle them and possibly give them more chance to advance further in life than them? Why give her a greater possibility of “ruling” over the “other class” in the future? As a result of this, more Singaporeans would come to realise something is not right and ask, “Why, Why, Why?”
Point 3a: Her beliefs
From her blog, it can be inferred that some of her beliefs are;
a) Singapore is “a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement”
b) A society which is “far too survival of fittest” is ok.
c) The PAP government is not to be blamed for “making” such a society.
For part a), in the context of the using words used (“tyranny”, “other class” and “complement”), it is difficult to dispute that she is not speaking what she truly felt.
“Tyranny” is equivalent to “ruthlessly ruling” over someone/something.
By using the phrase, “other class,” she effectively divided the society into half; rulers and those being ruled.
The word “complement” could imply that those being ruled are supporting the rulers.
Therefore, most people would feel that this ideal implied that the “clever” and “capable” rules over the common people who merely exist to serve them. Thus Miss Wee has reduced the commoners to servants to the rulers. She forgets that the only reason she is able to be in such a position and privilege class is because the “other class” allows her to do so.
If the “other class” do not accept their position in society and go against Miss Wee’s class, then she would most likely be reduced to a commoner like them. Thus there is some truth to her words; the “other class” is in this sense complementary to the “elite” class she belongs to.
For b) and c), I think she meant that since the world is in a perpetual rat race and there is no escaping it, one can only accept it and find ways to cope with this (ie. get better qualifications, upgrading skills etc).
Due to the same reason, the government should not be blamed for the bad things that happen to people. She seems to imply that the only person to be blamed is oneself. This is a chilling echo of PAP’s ideology. How many times have we heard them repeating this idea but in different forms?
The thing is, Derek was not lamenting about these facts. I felt that he was merely voicing out his concern that the Singapore society could be more humane and the government should try to understand us better. In fact, judging from the comments in his blog, many Singaporeans do relate to what he said.
What then is wrong for calling for a more compassionate society? Can our government not help to relieve the stress? Can our government not do better in understanding us and thus formulate policies to help us cope better? Is that too much to ask for?
Not everyone is calling for a total welfare state. There are those that just want the existing help avenues to become truly open, the stigma of being labeled “unsuccessful” reduced, want more protection for older workers who are being retrenched due to ageism, etc.
Ms Wee argues that the government is not to be blamed. I will only buy such an argument if only governments are not governing people. Which is ridiculous. By the very status of being a government, they are the ones molding the society which we live in.
I can name so many instances by the back of my hand; they create the rules of the game, foster racial harmony, provide affordable education for everyone, formulate laws, help foster economic growth, ensure Singapore continue to be attractive to foreign investors, relocated people from slums to HDB flats in the past, stipulate compulsory savings via CPF, adjust GST, adjust ERP, provide disincentives and now incentives for people to have more than 2 babies etc.
These instances are just a few which demonstrates that the government is meddling in all aspects of our lives. Thus, whether we want it or not, they do affect us direcly or indirectly. The successful policies that manifest themselves in society are often highlighted as their clever doing.
Yet, when policies go wrong and directly/indirectly adversely affect Singaporeans lives, they tell us not to blame them and blame only ourselves. They are known to be too quick to claim successes and deny failures. The government has to learn that they are partly to blame for manifestations of their policies in society that have gone wrong.
The extent governments are affecting our life can be found in their wide ranging legislation. You can check it out in this website. It ranges from the broadcasting act to Singapore employment act to Road safety act etc. Basically, there is an act for every possible thing imaginable. They are required for the rule of law to prevail in Singapore anyway.
Through legislation, the government policies affect our lives.
My whole point is the government does play a part in shaping our society and hence they do have to shoulder part of the blame. Although it might not be blatant, they do have the power to affect our lives and make it better; they can formulate more citizen-friendly policies. In the context of Derek’s letter, perhaps a clearer legislation against wrongful dismissal of Singaporeans in their 40s would help, for example.
Point 3b: An apology of sorts
Noticed that her father only apologised for her “insensitive language” but “he stood by his daughter’s ‘basic point.’” He claims that her basic point is that Derek “should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life.” Right, somehow, he forgot to comment on her other points which rile Singaporeans more.
Her basic points (as put forth in point 3a) have been illustrated above. Since he never commented on these basic points, I shudder to think that he could be harboring such views (refer to point 1).
Mr Wee then pointed out that his daughter’s “privacy has been violated.” Right, judging from the way our PAP government persecutes racist bloggers and want to “manage” the internet chatter, it seems that they do not hold privacy rights in high regard. Anyway, most people know that the internet is not private.
Conclusion
The ideas highlighted by Miss Wee and her positions as an “elite,” have set off the alarms bells for Singaporeans again. Their suspicion that many of the “elites” (who might possibly become future leaders of Singapore) are disconnected with the rest of society has been reinforced again. The suspicion that this “elite” class think they are superior, do not understand the plight of an average Singaporean.
Most average Singaporeans harbor a dislike for them. This hooha “nicely” coincided with the news of a poor 40 year old man who committed suicide at Chinese Garden MRT station. He was a poor men with S$39 K worth of debts. More was dug out and people concluded that he had fallen out of Singapore’s tiny net. As a result, many began to link both problems together.
Hence the class divide jus grew larger.
Many Singaporeans are now questioning if this is the society that we want to live in? Whether the government policies of extreme meritocracy are really that good? Whether our political leaders who come from the “elite” class understand average Singaporeans and thus are able to tailor policies suited for us? Whether the ideology of system of government should change?
On a happier note, Mr Wee is of opinion that “new media of the Internet is such that if you don’t like what she has said, you have the right of rebuttal.” I think most people would be glad that he realises this point. This perhaps signals that the PAP government realizes that political & social discussions online is self-regulatory to a large extent. This episode shows the extent Singaporeans would go to rebuke or refute claims by other individuals.
I feel that this is the gist of this episode. We Singaporeans must hold our government accountable to us.
After all the government exists to serve us.
——
Related posts:
52 Comments
Soo Kam Chia
J
I congratulate TOC for your 3rd anniversary. Wishing you many more years to come.
While its good to celebrate how far TOC has come and how long it has been established, ironically, the longer the election is not yet announced, the more changes to rules and policies have been implemented.
Time is Running out.
I used to say there is only 1 way out. Now, i not sure will there be any way out as time passes by.
What Change?
Ms Elite Face now reduced to sewing costumes for angmo undergrads: http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/players/Urinetown.html With a face like that, guess she didn’t qualify as a cast member.
Homeless in my own country
Thanks for being there as the alternate voice…one that touches the issues…not like our MSMs…that often present a skewed picture of our country…to many more good years of TOC
Burmese-Patriot
Congratulation TOC! Looking forward to read TOC’s printed version newspaper.
Victor
I probably qualify to be called “elite”, having been to one of the schools listed and not lacking in material comforts. However, I’d like to think that most Singaporeans are more discerning than to rely on the broad generalisations outlined when judging a person’s “elite-ness”.
As long as one carries oneself with dignity and humility and exercises empathy for others, financial standing and background are often less relevant in others’ perception of oneself. This has been my experience growing up in Singapore. I myself am still working towards that ideal and I don’t think I can (or should) ever stop and say I am truly like that.
Between an arrogant small-timer and a benevolent tycoon, it is the attitude that determines one’s “elite-ness” and I would give Singaporeans more credit in being able to tell the difference.
Congrats to TOC and keep up the good work!
winstoncheng
Ha, ha sewing costumes for the ang mohs in `UrineTown’. What else is new. The elites here play dogs to foreigners.
Zefly (aka Joshua Chiang)
Oct 19th should be a public holiday for ‘non-elites’ to remember that it was the day she posted the article on her blog.
popcorn
Congrats to TOC, Jia Yu.
We could tolerate the elites if they conduct themselves with tolerance, respect for those less elite than they are, and show humility.
But many of them exihibit arrogance even to the point of contempt, always thinking they know best, they are cream of the crop, and only they could set things right, behaviour that really piss us much lesser elites off.
Q
bon anniversaire, toc! you’ve done exceedingly well thus far and, truth be told, i personally find the articles published here of superb quality; toc has not become on par with the straits times, in some cases, i daresay you’ve claimed superiority.
Very Sure
Honestly, Wee Shu Min is one of the thousand elites who felt so. And if you look carefully, the government imported a lot of foreigners into these elite and independent schools, giving them free scholarship and lodging. I had by some chances talked to vietnamese scholar studying in RJC, she speaks like Wee Shu Min. For foreigners, once into our system, they would be tuned to behave like one.
If you look carefully, the whole society of elites are a close-knitted group, who receive a lot for their undivided loyalty to the top. And their off-springs continue to enjoy the good life their fathers got from our government. But their behaviour is getting out of hands.
youn
labels should only exist for statistical purposes and not used against people… don’t really know why people would want to label themselves too.
“Ms Elite Face now reduced to sewing costumes for angmo undergrads: http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/players/Urinetown.html With a face like that, guess she didn’t qualify as a cast member.” – 3) What Change?
Usage of the word “reduced to _insert profession here_”, isn’t that elitist as well? ^_^
I don’t see how much better us common folk are if we discriminate against “elites”….
Cheers to TOC!
radlife66
My heartfelt congratulations to TOC.
And we should thank you.
Keep strong.
ahtong
Congratulations, TOC. And thanks for re-publishing this blog entry. Indeed, as some of the responses in previous entries have shown, Singapore is still an unforgiving and uncompassionate society. Sigh….
gemami
Well done TOC! Keep it up and never forget this humble beginning when one day you stare greatness in the face. This is your destiny!
fae
does the govt exist to serve Singaporeans? I thought we are the “complacent” ones.. think reality is the other way round.. we exist to serve them
MacArthur Park
Just when I thought it was safe to open my eyes, and the first thing I see is this beach. And that picture! Can’t someone post a better looking one? If there was a need for anti-Viagra, that picture would be it.
That Urinetown gig was two years ago. Somebody out there gotta know where and what this beach is doing right now.
Facebook link, anyone?
btan
Congrats to TOC. Hope you will grow to be an alternative media to the MSM hegemony and publish news and opinions which we will never get to see from MSM.
curious citizen
Congrats TOC, on your 3rd anniversary.
Have many more to come.
puppies are mens best friend
TOC writers can form a new newspaper company IF …..
winstoncheng
If we don’t change the landscape in the government, your children will be governed by people like Wee Shu Min.
patriot missile
I wonder if “elite face” wee shu min will be given a cushy job in Singapore after she finishes her studies in upenn.
If she is really an elite, she should have her own backbone to strike it out in the states. Annabel Chong did it !
Godwin
Three years of reading TOC has made me determined to vote for PAP in the next election. If the voices here are representative of what the pro-opposition masses are like – jealous of others’ success and always blaming their failure in life on the government – then every man who earns an honest living and pays his taxes should ensure these people do not get their choice of candidate into the government.
Thanks, TOC.
John Michael Connor
TOC should be renamed as The Only Channel – Truth,Omega & Compassion!
David
The reason why TOC is so successful has to thank mediacorp for being skewed, PAP for being so screwed and ST for being ranked below 3rd world country. All these elements are winning combinations for new media being able to leap-frog many years ahead of msm and will continue to do so. Many Singaporeans were glad to know there are alternative channel for news such as this and are many times worth reading than relying on msm. Thanks TOC and all your writers for being so enlightening and expose the truth that msm dare not touch.
Palpitation Spiker Surge Fluctuation
I hope Wee become the next PM and lead us with her hand.
Tony Tan Teck Siong
singaporeans seems numbed about ERP. Maciam like its normal part of our lives liao.
Got articles to refresh our minds?
I mean we need to praise the success of ERP ;)
theonlinecitizen
Thank you, everyone.
Credit goes to the more than 150 people who’ve contributed to TOC these last 3 years in all ways. And of course, special thanks to our readers – that is, you guys and gals who visit us and take time to post your comments and give us suggestions and criticisms.
We are, in all honesty, just a bunch of bloggers, hoping to speak our minds. That is about all. We do not pretend to want to change the world. But we try and change mindsets of those we meet.. ;)
Oh, by the way, if any of you wanna lend us a hand (in reporting, writing, photography, videography, graphics, etc) do drop us an email at: theonlinecitizen@gmail.com.
We’re refreshing ourselves for the new year!
Merry X’mas to one and all!
Andrew
I think this is quite funny because if our elite is really elite, why do their kids need to mention that they are elite. I would suggest that if people need to call themselves elite, they are not.
Jaja
How about a change of website’s layout?
Congrats TOC. You are doing a great job. Keep it up. Singapore could do more with the open style discussion that TOC has been encouraging. No need to fear the authorities cracking down on dissent. They should be grateful that TOC is helping Singaporeans get into the spirit of frank debate and thoughtful discourse.
Palpitation Resonance Amplitudinal shockwave
Fear is nothing but fear itself.
We should not be fearful of voicing up.
This we have only ourselves to help ourselves.
Time to send in the shockwaves.
theforgottongeneration
Just a quick note of congrats TOC on this milestone. Well Rome wasn’t buit in a day, it takes step by step, so hope TOC will prevail. Also, I strongly believe none of the TOC staff or readers/contributors are paid like millions of dollars to think thru’ complete national policies, implementations, etc… (at least not me!). Ok, so I’m usually just letting out steam here.
Appreciation to Charissa on above long article — lots of thoughts must have been put into it.
Point 1. So, Ms Elite is daughter of an MP in AMK GRC? Say, isn’t that screwed mouth LBW (aka STTA president as yet) also from that enclave? Our PM must be really desperate or short-sighted to surround himself with such people in his GRC. Oh well, as said, birds of a feather do flock together, or monkey see monkey do.
Point 2. Elite is not a dirty word as it is, only in a society that makes it so. Elite forces (in the armed forces) is definitely something to be proud of to some, but “dirty” if abused. Politics is the thing that really shapes a nation (or city?) or the meaning of words. Best example I can recall is “appeasement” — dirtied by the Munich 1938 agreement.
Point 3. Ahh, just s***w her, and the elites, attitudes and beliefs. Leopards can never change their spots. Or like someone said previously: it’s like preaching bible values to the devil.
Conclusion. Way to go, TOC and Charissa. Remember for every 1 customer that complains, 9 others just walk away. So your voice is not really that small.
Lastly, it is a privilege to find out that there are some REALLY brilliant thinkers out there. Obviously, not the all the cream in our society is soaked off by the garhem & moulded into yes-men/women. It is just saddening that elitism is growing here (as rightly pointed out in this article) and what we have built in the past (or dreamed of for our next generations, aka Swiss standards) is now being clearly screwed by a new class of greedy (aka highest paid) politicians.
Depresso
The sad thing is that there are no fundamental changes when we compare the social issues now, against those which are already in existence since 3 years ago.
The good thing is that there are sites like TOC which provides an alternative view to the local media and challenges the fundamentals of the policies.
Agents Provocateur
Three more years!
Cheers TOC.
kingrant
Wee Shu Min better not fail in life. Retribution is sweet. I’ll kick her when she’s down. MP Wee shld be voted out in the next GE. If he still hides in a GRC (as cowards unfailingly do), we shld vote out the whole of his team too.
Dumb and dumber
I thank Ms Wee Shu-Min for waking me up from my slumber.
MacArthur Park
kingrant on December 2nd, 2009 10.44 am
Wee Shu Min better not fail in life. Retribution is sweet. I’ll kick her when she’s down.
Don’t worry, karma is a beach. And I believe in karma
MP Wee shld be voted out in the next GE. If he still hides in a GRC (as cowards unfailingly do), we shld vote out the whole of his team too.
Don’t be surprised if he is asked to ‘make way’ for new blood….
x-man
to 21
to 21) winstoncheng,
absolutely agree with you.
tragic ending also awaits poor elderly folks with the likes of Wee Shu Min and co. governing Spore.
to kingrant, I believe many will be in the queue too…….
to MacArthur Park, thanks for posting the video….. established breeding ground for future PAP politicians ?
prettyplace
Fathers money made her get the best tuition and what else…you go to the best school….with dads connection what else to expect…..
But what i don’t get is the humanities scholarship…..which idiot tested her and interviewed her to get this award…sounds like a joke….
A person with such conscience …..would never be able to step into my house….what more of giving her an award and scholarship…..
What meritocracy…..what was the test…how was it approved…..who did the test
(i did not know she was a HUMANITIES scholar.)
What a shame…the scholarship should rightfully be taken back….period.
People from Raffles suck big time!
Agree with comments from MacArthur Park in no.39
The people from the Raffles schools are some of the biggest arogant donkeys in the world. Got money big deal is it? Got guts come out of your fathers pants lah! Raffles poeple are the suckiest people
Regular Reader of TOC
There is obviously something wrong with the scholarship selection committee, who gave the “Elite Uncaring Face” the scholarship to do “Humanities”. What a blunder!
How can an uncaring inhuman child of a PAP MP, who himself also shows an indifferent attitude towards the commoners, be doing humanities?
Is she going to work as a social worker after her graduation? If so, I bet she would be kick in the face by many of us. We definitely do not want nor even entertain such a snobbish, arrogant, stuck-up, elitist elite in our midst. She is a product of the PAP system. Therefore, PAP will have to go, because it is no more the PAP we once knew to be.
===============
On a different, TOC congratulations for making it to three years. I really enjoy reading all the articles published here, including the exiting comments by the other readers. Well done, TOC. Keep up the good works!
One of your Many Readers.
XP
i think we can agree on one point here – and that is the fact that what ms wee expressed, no mere cautionary words or opinion, is not the thinking of hers alone, but that of her family.
for it was the family – her family – who put such ideas into her.
therefore, if we were to attribute the blame, then it will become unbecoming of us to do so on her and her alone.
THNG
Folks,
Mr Wee Siew Kim is also a non-executive Director of SBS Transit Ltd since 2003. He is also the Chairman of the Company’s Audit Committee and member of the Service Quality Committee. Multi talented people, must be cherish. Such ability is hard to come by.
congratulations to TOC’s success.
Derek’s post might be 3 years old too but its still very relevant today. the only difference is we are nearer to the day we Singaporeans can make the choice of making the PAP pay.
GE is coming! Pay-And-Pay’s payback time!
vote for Change, vote the PAP out
recent reader
well done.
thanks for providing a voice against the uncaring gov.
all the best.
RW
Congrats TOC for turning 3. To many more years to come!
On a seperate note, i agree with one of the previous commenters that the definition of elite should be attitude, rather than sch or occupation.
What if someone like KJ comes into office? Sure, he will be a ‘elite’ since he holds public office, went to famous uk university, becomes an economist and probably earns much much more than the average singaporean. I may be wrong, but i dun think anyone here will pour ‘elite’ scorn upon him.
also, there are many philanthropists in singapore who have done much good. just see the foundations such as lien foundation, lee foundation (not affiliated to lky) etc. these are ‘elites’ who have done much for the common people.
i think it is disingenuous to classify Singapore into elite versus commoner and create a class divide like that. It automatically means we must be against all political or business leaders, regardless of their attitudes or contribution to society.
“elite, uncaring face”
i think the author is too fixated with the word ‘elite’.
in my opinion, what really matters is ‘caring’ or ‘uncaring’.
walau
Congratulaions TOC. I hope one day, a bright young thing will walk into a PSC interview and be able to proudly declare that her/his opinions, thoughts, sentiments etc have somehow been shaped positively by the writings @TOC, and all the brothers, sisters, uncles & aunties who have contributed to the discussions here.
L
Agreed with RW. What’s more importance is the attitude and contributions of those to the society regardless of where they are from…
Whether one deem to be an elite or not, just remember that whatever you have can be taken away in an instant, your wealth, health, loved ones…
Nothing is as almighty as the nature and the universe…
Everything is changing, the world is changing… nothing is permanent and forever…
What’s left is the consciousness…
Selfless, compassionate and humble people will always be remembered in the heart and mind of many whom they have touched…
Selfish, proud and arrogant tyranny will be cursed by many whom they have angered…
Touched your conscience and live…
WeiHan
Just want to remind people that our elitist government has in the past, for example, close down private university such as Nanyang University which embodies contibutions from commoners and chinese speaking philantropists. They are simply a jeolous lot that want to claim monopoly to every progress that our country has made. Then, they discriminate against the chinese speaking mass which is no lack of excellent brains too. That is why our top civil servants and top positions in government-linked organisations and companies are all filled with English-speaking elites who have unfairly benefited from the government discriminative policies and attitude.
The other day I heard some irony comments by LKY. He blamed chinese teachers for making chinese lessons boring and that aleniated many english background people. What a lame excuse. The era of the domination of anglo-saxon culture in the world is slowly coming to an end. These people starts to worry and never put blame on themselves for incalcating wrong attitudes in their children but only put blames on the teachers. His son quickly came out to pay tributes to the chinese teachers but then make more blunders to sharp eyes. His suggestions that chinese lesson s should be taught in English is simply double standard. I am in principle not against the idea but should chinese teachers then receive a higher pay since they will need to well-verse in both language in order to teach chinese. Why isn’t the same is required of English teachers in the past?
Now, I see. Our top elites are sewing costumes for the angmos while China and India are quickly rising…and they still don’t have a clue but only know how to pay lip service to chinese language.
She does not get to see herself in the mirror whenever she does so : since mirror only mirrors the truthful image – besides , she presented herself as another underserving shameless well -off scholarship recipient grabbing something which is meant for the less well off.
Guess, she will not go far in life – Heaven ain’t going to tolerate her haughty and megalomaniac attitude .
Congrats TOC. Keep up the good work. God bless all of you.
It gave me a nauseatic feeling as I wonder how many elite offsprings already like that?
And what if they lead our offspring in future?
I hope my offspring will not be told to get out of my uncaring feace.